I spend most of my time digging into Wall Street, hedge funds and private equity firms, looking for both the good and the bad. I also focus on the intersection of business and the law. I have worked at Forbes since 2000.

Billionaire Bill Ackman Takes On The World

William Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager, is having an eventful summer battling iconic Wall Street titans and corporate leaders as he tries to turn around his most problematic investments.

In recent days, Ackman has launched a fierce showdown with the board of directors of J.C. Penney, the struggling retailer in which Ackman’s Pershing Square hedge fund is the biggest shareholder. He reportedly threatened the board, on which he himself sits, that he would sell Pershing Square’s 18% stake in the company if it did not quickly replace CEO Myron “Mike” Ullman. Ackman made his campaign against Ullman public as a letter he sent to the board demanding that Ullman be replaced soon found its way to CNBC. Ullman was brought back to J.C. Penney in the spring to help deal with the problems that hit the retailer while it was being run by Ron Johnson, a former AppleApple executive who Ackman brought to J.C. Penney as Ullman was being pushed aside.

But Thomas Engibous, chairman of J.C. Penney’s board, fired back at Ackman while speaking for the rest of the board members, saying the board “strongly disagrees with Mr. Ackman and is extremely disappointed that his letter was released to the media at the same time that it was sent to the Board.” The board called Ackman’s behavior “disruptive and counterproductive at an important stage in the Company’s recovery.”

J.C. Penney’s board also got Howard Schultz, the chief executive of StarbucksStarbucks, to hit back at Ackman on behalf of Ullman. “Mike is working tirelessly to save this company, and it is despicable of Ackman to leak a letter asking for his removal,” Schultz, told The Wall Street Journal. “The irony is that Ackman himself has every step of the way severely damaged this company.” Ullman sits on Starbucks’ board of directors.

Ackman on Friday responded by issuing a long press release in which he said J.C. Penney’s board had ceased to function effectively and that he had lost confidence in board chairman Engibous. Said Ackman: JC PenneyJC Penney‘s “very existence is at risk.” That helped cause the company’s stock to drop by 7%, a bad outcome for Ackman.

This month Ackman has also waged a battle with the investment firm of George Soros, the famous billionaire investor, after the fact that Soros Fund Management had taken a big stake in Herbalife was leaked to CNBC. Ackman has been shorting 20 million shares of Herbalife all year, calling the diet shake seller a pyramid scheme that will be shut down by regulators, but the stock has soared by more than 100% this year and caused big problems for Pershing Square’s hedge fund, a trend that was made worse by the disclosure of the Soros investment.

Ackman has asked the Securities & Exchange Commission to investigate whether Soros Fund Management engaged in insider trading and worked with other investors to improperly leak out the Soros investment to the media and orchestrate a short squeeze against Pershing Square. Ackman leaked his complaint to the New York Post, which reported that Ackman’s complaint revolves around so-called ideas dinners during which hedge fund portfolio managers gather and discuss investment ideas. Ironically, Ackman has heavily promoted his short position against Herbalife in the media and, according to The Wall Street Journal, talked it up at an investor ideas dinner. In addition to Soros, he is up against billionaire Carl Icahn in his Herbalife battle.

Ackman has taken on strong forces before and won, especially when he profitably shorted MBIA. But Ackman is again putting his credibility on the line. The stakes are big because his hedge fund charges rich fees, but is only up 4% his year while the U.S. stock market is having a great year and is up 20%. He is making serious accusations against the likes of Soros Fund Management and Herbalife, in a constant state of war with Icahn, and now is engaged in a nasty public battle with J.C. Penney’s board.

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It would be interesting if he picks up a Hollywood hooker to attend board room meetings with him, and they end up falling in love, and then he realizes the error of his ways and quits trying to ruin companies.

Funny how Ackman actually sorta looks like Richard Gere. When I first saw that movie, I thought it was inaccurate, because Jason Alexander (who plays his lawyer) looks more like a corporate raider that Gere did.

I can see how there might be poorly performing stocks at a good price that are worth the risk of a turn-a-round. I can’t see any future for JCP. I can’t even see a place where someone would want to buy them. There name isn’t worth much, and malls have plenty of open space(or plenty of competitors).

Ackman is threatening to sell his 18% interest in JC Penney? Good. Best thing that could happen. If Ackman remains involved in JC Penney’s business, the company will die. Ackman is a buffoon. Get rid of him and the company will flourish. Heck, if the stock gets low enough, perhaps someone who knows what they are doing could buy it and take it private, so goofballs like Ackman can never get at it again.

“That helped cause the company’s stock to drop by 7%, a bad outcome for Ackman.”

That statement presupposes Ackman or a subsidary or associate is not shorting the stock or attempting to buy on a low. “Bubububut that isn’t in accordance with SEC regulations” you say. And I answer thus, when the penalty for misconduct in the markets currently seems to be about 10% of the profits generated, IFF you are caught, why would I think anyone cares what the SEC does?